Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Anna Karenina: Part Three Summary

Part Three Summary

Levin Loves Mowing

Levin’s older brother, Sergey, goes to the farm for a
while, and they are in constant philosophical disagreement about most social and subjective
ideas, including personal opinions about one another. Then Levin develops this thing for mowing,
but I think it is a way for him to get his frustrations out regarding his
leisure-loving visitor.

Levin receives a letter from Stephan that his wife Dolly is
staying at the country house and needs assistance; would he stop by? After all, it’s just too inconvenient for
Stephan to see to the welfare of his wife.

Kitty is Coming to Town

Skip to Dolly, managing her children and country life, and
we get a glimpse of her emotions as a mother, which can look a lot like a
rollercoaster. When Levin visits Dolly,
she tells him that Kitty is expected to stay with her, and that he must stopover;
but he is insulted and flustered at such a request given that he believes anything
between Kitty and himself was buried when she rejected his proposal. Until a few chapters later, he sees her
passing by in her carriage…

Alexey Does Not Love Pistols

Alexey considers his situation with Anna, and wonders what
it would be like to challenge Vronsky to a duel; but a fear of pistols changes
his mind instead to punish Anna by forcing her to stay with him. He writes a letter to Anna telling her to
come home pronto. Anna, who is attracted
to the lying game, doesn’t know what to do, and considers asking Vronsky what
should happen. She meets with and shows
him her husband’s letter, and Vronsky also wonders if he shall have to face him
in a duel. Don’t worry, Vronsk, you
won’t have to.

Vronsky, who is having second thoughts about this affair, also wants Anna to give up her son and seek a divorce; but for Anna, her son is all she has, and she must keep hold of him. Vronsky realizes he is to blame for her complicated
situation. She goes to Moscow with her
son. Alexey tells her that all he wants
is for to behave in a way that one may not gossip about her.

Levin is a Champ

Levin is experiencing a love-hate relationship with his farm
work because he struggles with the peasants on many issues. Meanwhile, Dolly is using creative ways to
encourage Levin to visit Kitty, but he cannot bring himself to face her.

Levin escapes his heartache by visiting a friend,
Sviyazhsky, although he has many different views about farming and peasants. These discussions cause
Levin to implement more changes on his own farm.

Finally, Levin’s sick brother, Nikolay, visits, and it is
obvious that he is near death, causing Levin to think of nothing but his own
death. Yet, he shall continue on until the end. Atta boy!